Birthday Card for a Musician - Experiment 5

Yep, I know it's been a looong time since the last post.  Months, in fact.  But I haven't been idle.  I've been chasing around a toddler, starting a new job, and squeezing in a crafty moment wherever I can.  Mostly that's come in the form of supply shopping, but I've made several cards, too.

Back in February, my friend Jenna had a birthday.  We had been lamenting about the fact that we rarely even had time to get a haircut because of the aforementioned toddler-chasing, so I figured the perfect present would be a gift card to a local swanky salon chain.  She just used it a month ago!

I knew I had to make a card with a pocket, similar to the New Mama card I had made.  What I love about making cards individually by hand is that I can personalize each one for the recipient.

Stuff:

I couldn't find all the exact supplies I had used, but these are similar.
Marvy Uchida lever craft punch - 1.25" star
Stampin Up' Curry dye ink pad
A2-sized DCWV textured yellow card base & white envelope
American Crafts Mini-Marks Rub-On Transfers-Celebration Book 2, Color
EK Success Inkadinkado Music Sheet Wood Stamp
Yellow 6X12 Alphabet Stickers (Studio Calico)

How:

1.  I had a new rubber stamp that was a bunch of jumbled sheet music scores, perfect for backgrounds and perfect for my musical friend.  I wanted a subtle tone on tone look, so I used a mustard colored dye ink from Stampin' Up on a pre-cut A2 sized dark yellow card base and stamped randomly to cover the card, re-inking each time.  I let this dry for about 10 minutes.

2.  Using the star punch, I made 5 stars from brown shimmer cardstock from my scrap pile.  I used lowercase cardstock letter stickers in a sparkly yellow that matched the card base for her name.

3.  I arranged the stars in a sort of constellation pattern and stuck them on the card with pop-dots to give them a 3-D look.

4.  My beloved Minimarks rub-ons in a dainty 'happy birthday' make up a border for the bottom of the card.

5.  I cut out a small strip of dark yellow cardstock for the pocket and stuck the sides and bottom down with double sided tape.  I used the same pack of rub ons to add the word "wish" in a corner of the pocket.  I also cut down a border sticker to add a bit of color inside the card, to match the gift card a little better and make it look less plain on the inside.

Tips:

• Figure out a color scheme first.  That'll narrow down your choices of "stuff" to put on the card.
• Lay out all the pieces before sticking anything.  Or use reusable adhesive, similar to the stuff that Post-It Notes use.
• Heat-set the stamped background with a heat gun to be sure the ink is dry and doesn't smear.  Dye (water-based) inks dry pretty quickly, but pigment inks can take a lot longer to dry, and the stamping will smear if it's not completely dry.
• Every now and then, put the card down and sit back and look at it.  Does it look "right" to you?  Is there a big empty space somewhere?  Does it need *something* more?
• I like to add a couple of embellishments inside the card so it doesn't look too plain compared to the elaborate work I've done on the front.
• When making pockets for gift cards or other thin items, remember to only tape or staple three sides of the pocket so that one side is open to slip the item in.  This is a total "duh" tip, but I can't be the only one who pasted the whole thing down and realized my mistake, right?

This was another fun project that just took a couple of hours from start to finish.  I spent most of my time trying to figure out *what* to do, and actually assembling this simple card was pretty quick.  More to come, so stay tuned!

Experiment 4 - New Baby Girl Card

A friend from work had a baby in January, and I found the perfect (totally impractical) gift for her. These shoes from pink2blue on Etsy are breathtakingly gorgeous in person.

I saw them long after BabyT was too big for them, so I was glad to have another person to buy them for. Those gorgeous shoes could only be presented with an equally cute card, so I worked hard on this one. It was a great project because I just sat down one evening and decided I was going to make it, and finished it in one sitting. That's what I love about making cards - they can be completed in a short time.

MATERIALS

• Blank A2 ivory card and envelope
• Coordinating shades of pink cardstock, plain and patterned
• Cardstock letter stickers
• Adhesive metal faux brads - Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft
• Burgundy/gold embossing powder
• Tsukineko Brilliance Ink Pad, Coffee Bean
• Martha Stewart Adhesive / Art and Craft Glue

TOOLS

• Stampin' Up Welcome Baby rubber stamp
• Fiskars Alpine pattern decorative scissors
• Fiskars paper trimmer
• Martha Stewart Hydrangea Punch
• Uchida Jumbo Craft Punch, 1.5" Circle
• Fiskars 1/4-Inch Corner Squeeze Paper Punch
• Ranger Heat It Craft Tool
• Scotch ATG714 Adhesive Applicator for 1/4-Inch Tape

METHOD
1. I cut strips of patterned and plain pink cardstock to fit the width of the card, in different heights, and used the decorative scissors on the piece at the bottom.

2. I stamped 'Welcome Baby' in brown pigment ink onto plain pink cardstock cut in a circle, then quickly poured on embossing powder and tapped to remove excess. I used a paintbrush to get rid of the stray bits (as well as I could), then hit it with the heat tool for a few minutes until the powder melted and became shiny.  It's a pretty dramatic change, so keep going if you don't see it happen.

3.  I mounted the embossed circle onto a dark pink patterned circle, and then mounted that onto a square of textured cardstock with 3 of the 4 corners rounded (I didn't want to be too symmetric!).

4.  Using the double-sided tape, I attached all of the paper strips to the front of the card, then the embossed piece.  I spelled out 'ELLA' using the cardstock stickers, and then used craft glue to stick the hydrangea cutouts to the card.

5.  The card didn't quite look "complete" so I added a row of faux brads along the top strip of paper.
SUMMARY

I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.  I had to restrain myself from using a ton of different pink patterned papers (I've got quite a stash) and stuck with the very cool crown print from my friend Jenn's scrap pile, and then a very subtle dark pink floral for one of the circles under the 'Welcome Baby' stamp.

I obviously can use some practice embossing - there were still stray bits of powder that wouldn't come off, making the design look a little "fuzzy" after embossing.  I tried using a plastic tray to easily recover the leftover powder, but it was very sticky plastic so I ended up just throwing out a bunch of it.  Next time, a plain piece of paper might work better.

The inside of the card was too plain - I probably should have used a bit of the patterned paper to tie it together a bit more.  Also, I cut out all the pieces first so I could move them around to find the best layout.  It's hard for me, because I get anxious to just finish it, but it's really better to save the tape and glue for the last step so I can make last-minute design changes.

My friend J liked the card and the shoes, so it's all good.  Thoughts from the Peanut Gallery?  Was this too traditionally girly?

Experiment 2 - Baby Birthday Party Banner

As part of BabyT's first birthday papercraft festivities, I wanted to create one of those cool birthday pennant banners.  But all the ones I've seen online were made from fabric, and I didn't have enough time to learn how to sew.  I thought there must be a way to make one from all of the cool scrapbook paper I had.

So I turned to my trusty friend, The Google, and did a little searching. Just entering 'birthday banner' yielded a bunch of shops with very cheapy-looking vinyl banners and some not very helpful websites with duplicated content. Then I got creative and searched on 'birthday banner tutorial paper' and found Katydid and Kid's most excellent tutorial.  Since she already has lovely pictures and step by step instructions, I'm keeping mine short. 

MATERIALS

• Solid colored cardstock


• Patterned scrapbook paper  (coordinating with each other and the cardstock, but different patterns)


• White 8.5" x 11 printer paper


• Curling ribbon

TOOLS

• Martha Stewart Crafts Circle Cutter


• Glue stick


• Crayola Crayons 96 Count - yippee


• Martha Stewart Crafts Circle Cutter

METHOD

 

1. I searched on dafont.com to find a cute outline font that had upper and lowercase letters.  That site is truly addictive so set a timer, or you'll find yourself still looking at fonts three hours later.  


2. I entered the text into Microsoft Word and increased the size so it would print two letters per page.  I cut out each letter. (Tedious!)


3. Using the circle cutter, I cut 6" circles from the cardstock - one per letter plus a couple of extras,  and then cut slightly smaller circles from the patterned paper (5 inches-ish).  (Very tedious!)


4. I glued the letters onto the patterned paper, then used double-sided tape to tape the patterned paper to the cardstock circles.


5. I, and my friend Kim who volunteered to help, colored in the letters with the 96-pack of Crayola crayons I've been moving from house to house since college.  I was glad to finally use them for something!  I suppose BabyT will eventually inherit them, so it's all good.


6. I punched two small holes in each circle, and used curling ribbon to tie them together.  I finally learned how to use a butter knife to make the ribbons curl, and was mildly successful in getting cute ribbon curls between each letter.


7. I drafted the help of my fabulous husband to hang the banner in our living room, using thumbtacks and embroidery floss.  Everytime T saw it she would point and giggle.

[caption id="attachment_94" align="aligncenter" width="513" caption="top photo by Kristi Lloyd Photography"][/caption]

 



SUMMARY and LESSONS LEARNED
This was another project that wasn't technically complex, but took me several days to complete it. Being a mama really cuts down on my uninterrupted crafting time!

• This time I did use the 'assembly line' system and cut all letters, then all circles, then glued, etc. That made the process go a lot faster. I'd definitely spend less time browsing for fonts - I think I ended up back at one of the first ones I chose anyway.


• I would have done a better job at coordinating the papers and the crayon colors with each other - I got too much of an eclectic mix of colors and patterns.  I was trying to avoid being too "matchy matchy", but as a result, it didn't come out very cohesive.  Maybe limiting it to a few colors would have been a good start.


• Next time I might think about printing the letters in color, or using my fancypants Silhouette SD machine to cut the letters out of colored cardstock.  The coloring was fun, but unnecessary.

I've repurposed the banner so that the 'happy' part is hanging in my craft room, and I plan to hang up the 'Trillian' part in her room.  Is this something you might try making?